DIRECTOR Martin Scorsese
CAST Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Issei Ogata,
Tadanobu Asano, Liam Neeson, Yôsuke Kubozuka
PLOT In 17th century Japan, two Jesuit priests risk
their lives to search for their mentor who has
gone missing amidst a widespread purge of
Christianity. But their convictions are tested as
they find themselves struggling for survival.
OUT 16 FEBRUARY
★★★★★ RATED MA15+ / 161 MINS
SILENCE
And for super-devout Catholics — probably
for super-devout people of any faith — it presents
an interesting debate: is it a greater sin to betray
one’s fellow man, or betray one’s god? But it’s not
a lively debate — the polite word is measured; the
less polite term is glacial. If you are less than
pious, it’s hard to sustain the debate at all: how
could you abide the horriic suffering of innocents
to avoid a small symbolic gesture? And that
runtime (two hours, 41 minutes) is relentless: it’s
not as long as Wolf Of Wall Street, but it’s not
nearly as entertaining either. It becomes a bit like
watching a traditional Mass at a historic church:
you appreciate the artistry, the history, the
devotion, but you still get restless around the
two-hour mark. The same questions are debated
in the same terms over and over for long stretches;
the same characters struggle with the same
problems again and again and again. In particular,
about the fourth or ifth time the weaselly
Kichijiro (Yôsuke Kubozuka) returns to ask the
same thing of Father Rodrigues, it’s hard not to
laugh out loud.
Andrew Garield (backing up his turn as the
religious Desmond Doss inHacksaw Ridge) uses
every club in the bag to work through Father
Rodrigues’ arc, as his faith is tested. Garield
manages to carry several scenes where he implores
others to do what he cannot bring himself to, and
still keep the character grounded in compassion,
while also showing an undercurrent of pride in his
own purity. Adam Driver, looking more weirdly
insectile than ever, is excellent despite a slightly
dodgy stab at a Portuguese accent.
It’s hard to give anything other than a prayer
of thanks for a passion project made by one of the
world’s greatest directors. But it’s hard to embrace
it like a prodigal son. It feels more like going to
church.TIM KEENVERDICTGorgeous, ambitious and rigorously
executed, but solemnly paced to the point of
being gruelling.IF MARTIN SCORSESE inlamed
Catholic ire with 1988’s The Last Temptation Of
Christ, he might ind absolution with Silence, an
exploration of the nature of faith and what we
should expect from God: if He remains silent
(hence the title) during the suffering of His lock,
what does that mean about our relationship with
Him? On the other hand, Mr Scorsese might ind
a cooler reception from movie-goers in general.
Based on the 1966 novel by revered Japanese
author Shusaku Endo, it’s set in 17th-century
Japan, during a brutal purge of Christians by the
Shogunate. After a Jesuit priest, Father Ferreira
(Liam Neeson) goes missing in Japan, two of his
former students, Fathers Rodrigues (Andrew
Garield) and Garupe (Adam Driver) sneak into
the country to ind him. If it sounds like a historical
Argo, well, a thrill ride this is not. Rodrigues and
Garupe connect with a group of “Hidden
Christians”, and so draw the attention of the local
Inquisitor (a coyly serpentine Issei Ogata), who
tortures and kills those who refuse to renounce
their faith. Scorsese lingers on those awful images
— people being drowned, decapitated, burned alive
— to drive home the unquenchable faith of the
persecuted Christians. But the Inquisitor and his
wily interpreter (Tadanobu Asano) come across not
as evil caricatures, but as quite rational (albeit
callous) politicians: why not make one small gesture
to avoid a great deal of suffering?
As you’d expect from any Scorsese ilm, let
alone one he’s been planning for so long, it’s a
beautiful piece of cinema, and for the most part,
very restrained — there’s a couple of lashy
moments, but mostly Scorsese, perhaps as an act
of Catholic humility, keeps his more masterly
cinematic lourishes in his pocket. The characters
are at the forefront, rarely the director.
A very personal ilm for Scorsese — he
worked for more than 20 years to get it made,
after being given the book by the Archbishop of
New York in the 1980s; Scorsese says he’s read the
book “countless times ... it has given me a kind of
sustenance that I have found in only a very few
works of art”— it’s fascinating in a very speciic
way, as perhaps the most explicit investigation of
themes that Scorsese has touched on over his
entire career: how the temptations of the world
conlict with the demands of a moral life.Father Garupe (Adam
Driver) and Father
Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield)
search for a way into Japan.